1.1 Status of Children
India considers child to be any person below the age of 14, as do most Government Programmes. Biologically, childhood is the stage between infancy and adulthood. According to United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier'. This definition of child allows for individual countries to determine according to the own discretion the age limits of a child in their own laws. But in India various laws related to children define children in different age limits. (http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx
According to census 2011, India has emerged to be second most populated country in the world. Child population in India constitutes almost 39 per cent of the total India’s population. Every year estimated 26 million children are born in India (Children in India 2012: A Statistical Approach”; Chapter 2; Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation).There are about 43 crore children in the age group of 0-18 years; 16 crore children are in the age group of 0-6 years, of this there are 8.50 crore males and 7.88 crore females. In the age group of 6-18 years, there are about 27 crore children. It is estimated that about 40 per cent of children are in difficult circumstances or vulnerable which include children without family support, children forced into labour, abused/ trafficked children, children on the streets, vulnerable children, children affected by substance abuse, by armed conflict/civil/unrest/natural calamity etc. survival, growth, development and protection of these very large numbers therefore need priority, focus and attention (Report of the Working Group on Child Rights, 2012-2017).
Childhood in India is not homogeneous; several childhoods co-exist. Social-economic status, physical, mental ability, geographical location and other differences determine the degree of limitation of India’s children. Children are regarded as precious gifts from God. It is rather curious and unfortunate that these same children are subjected to abuses and neglect. Universally, childhood is recognized as a period of sensitivity requiring special care, attention and protection (Awosola and Omoera, 2008). India’s commitment to the cause of children is as old as its civilization. Unfortunately, over the years in the pre-independence period, due to socio-economic and cultural changes, the code of child centeredness got replaced by neglect, abuse and deprivation, particularly in the poverty afflicted sections of the society.
1.2 Child Rights in Indian Context
In India, children’s vulnerabilities and exposure to violations of their rights remain spread and multiple in nature. The manifestations of these violations are various; Malnutrition, inadequate health care, feticide, infanticide, school dropout, child marriage many other forms of violence and abuse. Child Beggary, Child Labour, Child trafficking, Child Sexual/physical abuse etc are the heinous crimes committed against children reflecting in the intensity of Child Rights violation in the contemporary society. UNICEF (2005) report on the state of the world’s children under the title “Childhood under Threat” speaking about India, states that millions of Indian children are equally deprived of their rights to survival, health, nutrition, education and safe drinking water. It is reported that in India 47 out of every 1000 live births do not complete their first year of life, 10.12 million child labourers aged between 5 to 14 years (National Census 2011). Out of the 400 million children, every second child is malnourished, Over 81.5 lakh children don't go to school. According to UN India has the second highest number of child marriages. There is an estimated 300,000 child beggars, 44,000 children disappear in each year. In India, a child goes missing every eight minutes (NCRB), with an estimated 1.2 million children are bought and sold into sexual slavery every year, karnataka is the third state of human trafficking, 53% of children are subjected to sexual abuse, about 57 rape cases on children per day and more than 2 rape cases per hour.
People inclusive of parents, politicians and administrative officials often refer to children as the ‘future generation’ of economically contributing adults or as the ‘citizens of tomorrow’, but it is important to remember that an individual becomes a citizen with citizenship rights. From the day of birth children cannot make political demands; they do not have the right to vote, and therefore do not have a say in electoral outcomes. However, access to early child care, education, nutrition, health and juvenile justice is essential for their positive development and is a right to which they are entitled to by the state. Hence, it is imperative that they receive care, protection, essential services, and opportunities which rightfully belong to them.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been a watershed in the recognition of the basic needs of the child as their rights and 192 countries have accepted that the needs and the rights of the children are similar world over notwithstanding their socio-economic, geographical and cultural differentials. In 1992, the Government of India also ratified the United Nations Convention on Right of the Child (UNCRC), requiring it to ensure the right of all children to survival, protection, development and participation. India’s consistent failure to meet it own constitutional provisions as well as other international obligations like the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and Millennium Development Goals (MGG) for protecting children should function as a serious wake-up call.
The Indian constitution accords rights to children as citizens of the country, and in keeping with their special status the State has even enacted special laws. The Constitution, promulgated in 1950, encompasses most rights included in the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child as Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy. Over the years, many individuals and public interest groups have approached the apex court for restitution of fundamental rights, including child rights. The Directive Principles of State Policy articulate social and economic rights that have been declared to be “fundamental in the governance of the country and … the duty of the state to apply … in making laws” Article 37 (http://haqcrc.org/child-rights/constitution-of-india/). Article 21 A of the Constitution of India directs the State to provide free and compulsory education to all children within the ages of 6 and 14 in such manner as the State may by law determine. Article 24 no child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. Article 39 of the Directive Principles of State Policy, for instances, requires that the state shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused, and that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in condition of freedom and dignity.
The constitution of India itself guarantees many rights to the child. This is two-fold the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles. The rights perspective has practical implications for public policy on child development services. First, this perspective is the main foundation of the demand for “Universal” child development services. Indeed, one implication of the rights approach is that all children are entitled to certain “opportunities and facilities” (as the Constitution puts it) that do not have to be justified on a case by case basis, let alone submitted to cost benefit tests. Thus the Indian constitution made provisions for the welfare of children well before the declaration of child rights by the United Nations.
Children’s rights were recognized after the Ist World war, with the adoption of the Declaration of Geneva, in 1924. The process of recognition of children’s rights continued thanks to the UN, with the adoption of the Declaration of Children’s Rights in 1959. The recognition of the child’s interest and his rights becomes real on 20 November 1989 with the adoption of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (http://www.humanium.org/en/child-rights/). The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument World leaders in 1989 decided that children needed a special convention just for them because people under 18 years old often need special care and protection that adults do not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children have human rights too. The child right comes into existence in 1990 and further it was rectified in 1992. 54 articles are sets in Convention and two Optional Protocols. Two optional protocols were adopted on 25 May 2000. The First Optional Protocol restricts the involvement of children in military conflicts, and the Second Optional Protocol prohibits the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx). Both protocols have been ratified by more than 150 states. A third optional protocol relating to communication of complaints was adopted in December 2011 and opened for signature on 28 February 2012. It came into effect on 14 April 2014 (https://web.archive.org/web/20120825214748/http://treaties.un.org:80/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx).
The convention on the rights of the child specks of four sets of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights of every child. These include:
Survival rights: include the child’s right to life, the highest attainable standards of health, nutrition and adequate standards of living. It was also includes the rights to a name and nationality.
Development rights: include the right to education, support for early childhood development and care, social security and the rights to leisure, recreation and cultural activities
Protection rights: includes freedom from all forms of exploitation, abuse, inhuman or degrading treatment and neglect including the right to special protection in situations of emergency and armed conflicts.
Participation rights: includes respect for the views of the child, freedom to expression, access to appropriate information, and freedom of thought, conscience and religion
Child rights and child care is a wide area touching nearly 40 per cent of the total population of India with complex issues of challenging nature. It becomes really difficult for the schemes initiated by the government to cover all issues relating to child rights. In modern societies everyone has rights, and to incorporate these rights into everyday life it is important that we all understand the associated responsibilities. The function of the law is to protect and safeguard these rights and this is particularly important where children and young people are concerned, because they may not be in a position to claim these rights themselves. Several campaigns, policies and demands for laws later, children in India are still at the receiving end of the most egregious forms of human rights abuse. Under both domestic and international law, children’s right to get protection from harm and to have their basic physical and social needs provided is uncontroversial. At the International level, the United Nations is the most important organization coordinating efforts to end child rights violations, and at the National and state level many agencies are working for this aim. India is specifying the outline of a means of change and improvement in child care, and many trusts such as child line, Plan India and save the children too are taking efforts to outdate child labour from India. In India, few of the organizations who work with children's rights, CRY (Child Rights and You), Save the Children, Bal Vikas Dhara-New Delhi, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, and CHORD-Hyderabad (https://www.revolvy.com/topic/Convention%20on%20the%20Rights%20of%20the%20Child)
The role of International organisations in safeguarding the child rights such as International Labour Organization (ILO), International Programme for Elimination of Child Labour (IPECL), United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), is well analysed. The child related schemes initiated from time to time are critically examined and useful suggestions indicated. However, there has been a recent spurt of legislative action on child rights issues. Take, for example, the recent National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act 2005, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2006, the National Policy for Children (NPC), the proposed Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Amendment Bill 2006, Offences against Children Bill, and the Child Marriage Bill that has recently been passed by the Rajya Sabha. Surely this decade is seeing the highest rate of legislative action on any one constituency or issue in the history of India, and a definitive shift from addressing children’s issues as a matter of charity to a matter of justifiable and deliverable entitlements.
The National Policy for Children (NPC) was adopted by the Government of India on 2nd August, 1974. This policy describes children as supremely important asset makes the state responsible to provide basic services to children both before and after their birth and also during their growing years and different stages of development. For its time, it was a forward looking document. Review of the National Policy for Children, 1974, to align it with current and projected needs of all children in India and with international conventions such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was initiated in 2008. The review takes into account existing and emerging challenges faced by children in a rapidly changing environment and reflects a paradigm shift from a ‘need-based’ to a ‘rights based approach. For review of the policy, the ministry of women and child development adopted a participatory process by involving state Government, line ministries and civil society (Report of the Sub-Groups on Child Rights for 12th Five Year Plan 2012-2017).
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) was set up in March 2007, under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act of Parliament (December 2005). The Commission's mandate is to ensure that all laws, policies, programmes, and administrative mechanisms are in consonance with the child rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (http://ncpcr.gov.in/). The Commission aims at developing a healthy, safe and free environment for every child. In consonance with its mandate, the Commission seeks a deeper penetration into communities and households in order to touch every child. It expects that ground experiences inform the policy interventions and the field receives support from authorities at the higher level.
The ‘Pilot Program for Protection of Children’s Rights (PPPCR)’ is a pilot program of the National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), New Delhi initiated in November 2011. The macro data about the socio-economic conditions of the people in the state of Jammu and Kashmir provide a better picture, as compared to India as a whole. The macro data sets, like NFHS, also suggest that Jammu and Kashmir provides a better picture on many of the health indicators as compared to India. For instance, the Neo-Natal Mortality rate in J&K was 29.8 (39 in India), Infant Mortality rate was 44.7 (57 in India), Child Mortality rate was 6.8 (18.4 in India) and Under-five Mortality rate was 51.2 (74.3 in India) in 2005-06. Similarly, the proportion of under-weight children less than three years was 29.4 percent, as compared to 40 percent in India1; children in the age group of 6-35 months who are anaemic were 68.1 percent, as against 78.9 percent in India. (www.ncpcr.gov.in/retervied from 26 July 2017)
1.3 Role of School Personnel in the Growth and Development of the Child
The awareness towards the child rights is important for the children for them to know the things that they deserve to get as children. According to the Convention on the Right of the Child, in participation right, the children have three rights, which is right of expression, association and child’s opinion. These rights can be seen in its practice at home, school and in general the society. The school as one of the basic institutions for child development, next to families should be used for increasing awareness on child rights. Children spent their time in school and home; the parents and teachers are the shapers of children’s behavior and influence children’s views and concepts. The teachers can play a greater role in providing necessary inputs for the children’s development. A child’s liking for studies depends on his/her teacher role at school. Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC), 1990 proclaims that an environment of happiness, love and information should be provided for full and harmonious development of the personality of the child. Implementation of CRC provisions can guarantee the environment conducive to optimal development of children and in this connection school as an institution has to play an important role. School forms an important part of the life of any child. He/she has his/her own favorite teacher to look upon as a role model, a friend and mentor. Thus, the child forms a unique relationship with the teacher. School Personnel play a vital role in the growth and development of the child. It is also the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that his/her students study and grow-up in an environment that is free from abuse, exploitation and violence. Teachers can ensure this by taking small steps, like establishing a special bond with their students so that they do not hesitate to discuss their problems and concerns with them, watch out for symptoms in their students which foretell signs of abuse, exploitation and violence and help the child by reducing his/her trauma and by taking necessary steps, and importantly build rapport with parents. The community has a major role to play in creating such an environment.
The school has the social and constitutional responsibilities of educating its citizenry and protecting its clientele, the learners from the abuse of their rights and privileges. Students’ personnel administration constitutes various administrative activities and services carried out by the school to enhance the wholesome development of the learners. The importance of adequate educational personnel services cannot be over-emphasized as our school- going youths are currently threatened and challenged by monsters of militancy, cultism, drug addiction and general restiveness. This unfortunate scenario has grave consequences for teaching and learning environment which is expected to guarantee a conducive and friendly school climate. Teachers represent adult society and its pledge through the Convention, to young people. It is one of the political contradictions of today that so much emphasis is given to the importance of education and so little is done to give teachers status, support and reward. It would, indeed, be interesting if teachers developed a more detailed interpretation of the message of the Convention for themselves, a teachers’ version. This could be the basis for a manual for teacher education and training. Obviously, the Convention encourages the changing role of educators from ‘lecturers’ to ‘facilitators’. Their skill is to encourage and assist pupils in the learning process, rather than to know all the facts. It is to help introduce democratic attitudes and prevent violence. It is also to make the school relate to the community and the outside world in a constructive way. Children are always at receiving end at their schools from teachers and non-teaching school authorities. Almost all schools inflict corporal punishments on students for various reasons. All the experience so far shows that the child-friendly school also provides the most effective learning. It is in that sense ‘productive’. But that is not the point. Such a school would be good for children. It will also be an essential building block for a society which combines dynamic development with tolerance and mutual respect – a better society.
It is sometimes argued by teachers that affording respect for the rights of children diminishes respect for their own rights. They may erroneously believe that prohibiting physical punishment or involving students in decisions diminishes their position or makes it more difficult to maintain discipline. This view derives from an assumption that rights represent a fixed quantity of entitlement and that giving more to one constituency necessarily deprives the other. It also derives from an authoritarian understanding of the teacher-child relationship. While respecting the rights of children does involve some transfer of power, this does not necessitate the loss of rights on the part of the teacher. In practice, without mutual respect, the pedagogic relationship is fragile. Creating a school environment in which children’s rights are respected is more likely to enhance respect for the role of the teacher, although this outcome can only be achieved if teachers are appropriately supported and resourced (http://allafrica.com/stories/201511050931.html). While the wider educational infrastructure is vital, it is teachers who have the most impact on the day-to-day experience of children in school. A quality education, in which children want to take part, is dependent on the commitment, enthusiasm, creativity and skill of teachers. It is their task to translate national policies into practical action in each school and to ensure that they embrace a culture that is inclusive and respectful of every child (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001548/154861e.pdf). All children need to feel welcome and confident of equal treatment in the school.
The teachers and children are frequently moving around the community, so parents and others community members can actually see their children learning. Initially, many parents objected to the methodology of the school. They consider that education could only take place in a building with paper and pencils. Schools need to promote an environment of respect for all children. They should prompt a culture that ensures that no bias is tolerated that favours or discriminates against any learner or group of learners – whether in respect of admission procedures, treatment in the classroom, opportunities for learning, access to examinations, opportunities to participate in particular activities, such as music or drama, or marking of work. Children should never be stereotyped or insulted on the basis of who or what they are. Teachers need to take active measures to involve girls on an equal basis with boys. Schools necessitate to develop policies setting out the principles of non-discrimination and ensure that all teachers, parents and children are aware of the policy and know how to make a complaint if it is breached. Children and parents should be involved in the development of the policy as this will strengthen ownership and understanding. The process of developing the policy is also an opportunity to address the issues, learn why they are important, and develop skills in negotiation, listening and understanding different points of view and experiences. Promoting a respectful environment Schools need to develop policies to promote an environment of respect throughout the school. These policies should be developed through collaboration with all stakeholders, including children.